Rainy Days
by Cosmos Traveler
Summary: One day, Ruki sees Takato while she is walking the rain and then... Please review.
1. Rainy days...

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. I love Rukato, and will never write Jenruki, or Ryuki, unless it eventually leads up to Rukato.  
  
On my other Tamer fic, "All the Difference," I've been hit by writer's block, so it is moving a bit slower than I'd liked, but it is still coming along, but anyway, I was watching a video clip of the first Tamer ending, "My Tomorrow," so I got a good idea for a short Rukato.  
  
I think this'll be a two-chapter thing, so I'll get the next chapter either out tomorrow, or sometime this week. Alas, summer is almost over, so it is time to. PANIC!!  
  
Eh, I'll panic in a few weeks. Now, onto the fic!  
  
  
  
Rainy Day By the Traveler  
  
It was raining, but Takato didn't care.  
  
He was crying, but his tears just mixed with the rest of the raindrops, so it wasn't very noticeable.  
  
He grabbed at his side, and held up his D-Arc, his former card reader. A bright red. Just like blood. Just like Growlmon's eyes after the battle.  
  
The rain had resumed after a quick reprieve, after a rainbow helped revert Growlmon back to his Rookie form, Guilmon. Now it was pouring once again, and Takato barely noticed.  
  
Jenrya had left, and Takato hadn't blamed him, since Jenrya had already gone out on a limb running out to help Takato in the middle of the night, so he didn't blame Jenrya for leaving.  
  
Ruki, well, he had no idea what she thought. Frankly, Takato was surprised she hadn't tried attacking Growlmon, but had said that she didn't want to bother fighting such a pathetic Tamer. The fact that Growlmon's 'camouflage' paint was running off in the rain didn't impress her too much.  
  
Then again, why was he concerned with what she thought anyway, aside from the fact that those brilliant violet eyes haunted him, since he had first glimpsed them in a foggy dream. She had forbidden him from ever mentioning it again, or else he would suffer terribly, and since there was an invisible fox wandering around, he knew that she could enforce that threat at any time.  
  
"Why me?" he asked the dark sky, knowing he wouldn't get an answer. He had wanted to be a Digimon Tamer, but not like this! He thought his Digimon would be completely normal, and would listen to him, but Takato had a hard enough time just keeping Guilmon from running off.  
  
Also, the strange circumstances of Guilmon's birth bothered him. Terriermons and Renamons were both common Digimon, but he had created Guilmon, by just shoving a few drawings through his D-arc, and it had worked!  
  
But Guilmon, while mostly calm, was nothing compared to Growlmon, who had frightened Takato quite badly.  
  
"Have I created a monster?" he asked himself silently. He didn't want Guilmon to be a monster.  
  
Guilmon hovered nearby worriedly, holding up a single leaf over his head as an informal umbrella.  
  
***  
  
Ruki ducked under another roof as she took a moment to shake off her umbrella.  
  
"Good thing I brought this," she muttered to herself. "Renamon, are you okay?"  
  
"Of course," Renamon said, appearing besides her. Ruki had long ago gotten used to Renamon's strange way of moving.  
  
"You sure the rain doesn't bother you?" Ruki asked. "Wouldn't want my partner to get sick, and then we would lag behind those other two goggleheads," she said with a slight smile at Renamon to show she was joking.  
  
"I am quite fine, my fur doesn't absorb much water," she explained, glad that Ruki was finally treating her as more than data.  
  
"Well, I guess its time to go home," Ruki said. "Wouldn't want Grandma to worry too much, right?"  
  
Renamon gave a nod and silently phased out again.  
  
Ruki looked out at the rain, and figured that if she waited for a break in the rain, it would take forever, so she would just risk it.  
  
***  
  
Ruki had decided to walk through the park, because she hoped the trees would offer some cover from the rain. She cursed herself for forgetting to bring enough money for the subway, but figured that a little water never hurt anyone.  
  
As she ran through the puddles on the sidewalk, she noticed that there was one figure who didn't seem to notice the rain, as he was just sitting there on the steps, getting soaked.  
  
"Idiot," she snorted. "Not my problem."  
  
But as she ran past, she noticed that the little boy looks sort of familiar. Blue shirt, gray pants, and a pair of yellow goggles.  
  
She stopped, surprised. "Gogglehead?"  
  
The words snapped Takato out of his trance. He looked up, and noticed the relatively dry Digimon Queen standing under a blue umbrella, the same shade as her own Digivice.  
  
She saw Guilmon standing nearby, holding a large leaf by the stem as an umbrella. She almost laughed at the sight, glad that the ridiculous camouflage paint had already been washed away.  
  
What stopped her from laughing was the hopeless expression she saw on Takato's face.  
  
Though she knew she would regret it in the morning, she asked "And what is so wrong with you that you'd want to catch a cold like this, gogglehead?"  
  
Takato scowled at her, and for some reason, the expression just looked so wrong on Takato's face. She had seen him happy, sad, scared stiff (usually of her), and determined, but never depressed.  
  
He gave a short mirthless laugh. "What is wrong is that I don't think I deserve to be a Tamer."  
  
Ruki blinked. "That's it?"  
  
Ruki's short answer actually put Takato off balance. "What do you mean 'that's it'?! Guilmon just digivolved to Champion, and he nearly blew up a couple of buildings!"  
  
"Well, you shouldn't have made him so big then," she responded, smirking at him.  
  
She didn't expect him to say "I wanted him to be bigger than Greymon, but I guess I didn't expect him to be so. berserk."  
  
"What is wrong with you, gogglehead?" she asked, cutting back on the sarcasm a little this time. "Where did you get Guilmon, anyway? Did you draw him up?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Takato snapped back at her. He stood up, and dug in his pocket, taking out a wet piece of paper. "I got a digivice, and I slid my picture of Guilmon through, and boom, there he was!"  
  
Takato threw the sheet at her, and though it was a bit wet from being in Takato's pocket, she could still see a red dinosaur on the paper, complete with red wings on the head, and a hazard marking on the body.  
  
Guilmon walked over, interested. "Wow, that's a good picture of me," he said in his child-like voice.  
  
"You really did create Guilmon, didn't you?" she asked, stunned.  
  
"Yep," Takato said. "Its not like I had Digimon swarming up to me to ask me to be their Tamer. Though I bet a famous card player like you probably did."  
  
Ruki shuddered at how close to the mark Takato hit. "Well, stop moping gogglehead. If you get sick, then you won't be able to help Guilmon when me and Renamon decide to load his data."  
  
Rika had already given up on the idea of loading Guilmon's or Terriermon's data, but she figured it might wake Takato up.  
  
Boy, did it work. "NO!" Takato shouted, racing up to her and shaking her. "You can't take Guilmon away, he's my friend!!"  
  
Ruki was being shaken so badly by the goggle-boy that she dropped her umbrella in her surprise. She certainly hadn't expected such a violent reaction from Takato.  
  
"Get a grip, gogglehead!" she shouted, pushing his hands off her. "I was just joking!"  
  
Takato blinked in the rain. "Joking?"  
  
Ruki rolled her eyes at Takato's slow answer. "Look gogglehead, Guilmon is right here! So what if you drew him up, then he's original! And does this face look like the type to go on a rampage like Godzilla or something?"  
  
She pointed at Guilmon's innocent face. "Who's Godzilla?"  
  
"Your older big brother," Ruki said sarcastically, at which Guilmon's face lit up. "I have a brother? Wow! Is he red like me Takato?"  
  
Ruki slapped her head. Figures, gogglehead and dino-boy would be this stupid. She picked up her umbrella, and stepped slightly closer to Takato, so that it covered the both of them.  
  
"Listen gogglehead, no matter what Guilmon looks like, he is still dino-boy inside! He may turn into a giant dinosaur again, but that was the first time. You'll become better at this, eventually. Maybe then you can provide a good fight for Renamon."  
  
"Really?" Takato looked up at that, and blushed slightly when he saw how close the girl was to him under the umbrella. Luckily, in the darkness, Ruki couldn't seem him blush.  
  
"I'm sure Guilmon won't go crazy again," Ruki repeated. "Anything that would let you paint them in that kind of paint must be really nice! So stop worrying."  
  
Takato shook his head, and then took a deep breath. Ruki was right. He knew Guilmon. Guilmon would never be like that. At least, not with Takato watching over him.  
  
Takato smiled. "Thanks Ruki. I guess I needed a pep talk like that."  
  
Ruki just glared at him. "Well, that's fine then. Don't expect another. I've got more important things to do than try to cheer you up." She stepped away, and Takato was once again standing in the rain.  
  
"See ya later, gogglehead," she called back as she walked away.  
  
Takato stared after her, and he was sure he was blushing intensely. No girl had ever gotten that close to him, aside from Juri.  
  
"Umbrella, Takatomon?" Guilmon said, offering his leaf.  
  
Takato looked at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing.  
  
"You really are nice, aren't you, boy?" he asked Guilmon.  
  
"Yep!" Guilmon agreed, nodding enthusiastically.  
  
Takato looked into Guilmon's eyes, and he saw another child, a partner, not Godzilla. At least he hoped not.  
  
"You better get back to your house, boy," he said, patting Guilmon on the head. "I'd better get home. I just hope I can get into the house before mom sees how wet I am."  
  
"Okay Takatomon," Guilmon said, happy that his friend was once again happy.  
  
"That's- ah, forget it, bye Guilmon," Takato said as he walked away.  
  
"Bye-bye Takato!" Guilmon said as he ran back towards his shed and his stockpile of bread.  
  
Takato turned around for a moment, startled, but then shrugged it off. "Sometime I never get that boy.  
  
***  
  
Ruki huddled under another bus stop that was near her house, as she took a moment to try to dry her clothes a bit, so that her mom wouldn't fuss too much on her.  
  
"Stupid goggle-head, now I'm soaked too," she grumbled. "But at least I managed to get him to start moving again."  
  
"That was sweet, Ruki," said a voice at her side, and Renamon appeared again. "A friend should help a friend in need."  
  
Ruki snorted. "Friend? He is merely a fellow Tamer, nothing more, nothing less. Besides, it would be cruel just to leave a person alone in the rain like that."  
  
"Nice gesture with the umbrella, though," Renamon argued. "I don't think Guilmon's leaf would have really sufficed."  
  
"That's for sure," Ruki said as she fished in her pockets for some napkins. She instead found something else.  
  
"Oh, the stupid goggle-boy forgot to take his drawing back from me," Ruki grumbled as she realized she still had the Guilmon drawing.  
  
"He doesn't need it anymore, since he has the real thing now," Renamon pointed out.  
  
"Good point," Ruki said. She sighed. "Might as well keep it for now. I am definitely not going all the way to his house to give it back to him." She frowned as a new thought struck her. "Just where is his house anyway?"  
  
Renamon shrugged. "Would you like me to give it to him?"  
  
"Nah," Ruki disagreed. "I'll just give it back to him when I see him next."  
  
"You two did look cute standing in the rain like that," Renamon commented.  
  
Ruki glared. "Mention that to anyone, and."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't," Renamon said, and then disappeared again.  
  
Ruki shook her head. "Who does she think she is? A matchmaker? Takato does look cute but-"  
  
She hit herself on the head. "Great, now she's got me thinking like that. Besides, the whole idea is ludicrous. Me and Takato, a couple? Heh heh, like that would ever happen."  
  
She held up her umbrella again, and walked towards her home.  
  
The End.  
  
  
  
Okay, I hope that was acceptable. Also, for those people who have seen "My Tomorrrow," well, its based heavily on that, but of course it has Rukato too.  
  
I'm working on a second chapter that occurs after Tamers, so be on the lookout for that too! 


	2. Always have a rainbow

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon Tamers.  WAH!!  Sorry, I'm in a semi-depressed mood, since school is getting nearer, so I'm hopefully shifting into high gear with fanfics.

Sorry for the late chapter, I meant to have this out last Saturday, but I got distracted by my parents.

Thank you for the reviews, and please review this one too!

Also, in the Tamers timeline, this is after the 6th movie.  I found this site that had a manga of the 6th movie.  Unfortunately, the whole thing was in Japanese, so I barely had any idea what was going on, but at least it showed most of the movie.

Rainy Days

It was official.  Ruki Makino absolutely hated the rain.  And this time, she hadn't even remembered to bring an umbrella.

Shinjuku was still in a state of rebuilding after the recent D-Reaper, and Parisimon/Locomon invasions.

Ruki and Renamon had been riding the subway home after some training, as was their usual routine, despite the stares Renamon attracted, but Ruki never really cared.

That was when the trouble started.  First, the line she normally rode home on was reported as broken, due to repairs from D-Reaper, and the rain also.  Thus, their train had been diverted to another line that Ruki wasn't as familiar with as she'd liked, and then the train itself had _also broken._

Most of the passengers had grumbled, but had flagged down taxis, or had pulled out umbrellas.  Unfortunately, Ruki didn't have either option, so she just had to run all the way home.  Worse yet, she could barely see where she was going since the rain had intensified and she could barely read any street signs.  Though Renamon was leading her in the general direction of home, it was still slow going.

As such she was very grumpy, and if anybody aside from her Digimon talked to her she would snap at them, much as she used to a year ago.

"Ruki!  What are you doing out in the rain like this?"  
  


Ruki looked up at the familiar voice, and scowled.  Just what she needed, a goggle boy.

"Oh, couldn't you tell, I _like the rain so much I decided to skip the subway and the umbrella and just dance in the rain!" she shouted at Takato in frustration._

Takato flinched, but wasn't that discouraged.  He was used to Ruki's remarks.

"Do you need some help, Ruki?" he asked again in, what he hoped, was a friendly tone.

"Listen, gogglehead," she growled, "if I wanted help, I would ask for it, and besides that, what are you doing here?  Are you stalking me again?"

It wasn't quite so dark yet that Ruki couldn't see Takato's cheeks redden at that comment.  "Again?" he asked mildly.

"Yeah, like when you popped up near my house just so conveniently," she said.

"Hey, I was just looking for Culumon then," Takato said defensively.  "We didn't know your house was there!"

Ruki looked up at the sky, and saw the rain was getting even _worse, if that was possible._

Takato noticed where she was looking, and, quite presumptuously (at least according to Ruki), stepped closer to her than she normally allowed, sharing his red umbrella.

Ruki grunted thanks, since her mood didn't allow anything more, and finally asked "So, gogglehead, you know a place where we might be able to wait out the rain?"

Takato smiled, which actually seemed to brighten up the space around them.  "Sure, my family's bakery!"

"And just where is your family's bakery, the other side of town?" Ruki asked acidly.

"No, just around the corner," Takato said pointing.

Takato moved away, and Ruki hurried along to keep under the cover of his umbrella and saw that literally just around the corner was the bakery Takato's parents owned.

Ruki sweatdropped.  "Okay, I guess I got more lost than I thought."

Takato shrugged.  "Its okay, I can barely see three feet in front of my face in this rain.  You're lucky I was out here closing up a few windows.  They said this storm might keep going for awhile, so my parents were planning on closing up early.  You and Renamon can stay here until the rain lets up a little."

Ruki smiled at the thought.  "Alright, gogglehead, you win.  Renamon?"

Renamon appeared next to her, also soaking wet.

Ruki blinked.  "I thought your fur didn't absorb water."

"It doesn't absorb _much water," Renamon corrected, "and this much rain is too much for me."_

"Well, you can dry out in the bakery," Takato said, walking towards the door, which slid open.  "Mom, dad, is it okay if Ruki waits in here with us?"  
  


Takato's mom looked up from where she was counting up the money from the day's sales.  "Of course, Takato," she said absently.

Ruki took a deep breath as she stepped inside the bakery.  Though she would never admit it, she really did enjoy going over to Takato's house.  There was always the smell of fresh bread permeating the place, and it was one of the few places where Renamon wouldn't be too noticed- since most people were busy looking at the red dinosaur mascot.

"Takatomon, you're back!" Guilmon shouted happily as he ran out of the back, holding a large box of bread.

He then noticed who else Takato had brought in.  "Takatomon, why are Rukimon and Renamon here?"

Ruki whirled from the displays she was examining back to the Digimon.  "_What did you call me?"_

"Rukimon?" Guilmon asked innocently.

Takato sighed.  "Guilmon, its Takato and Ruki­-"

"Sitting in a tree!" added another voice.

Ruki and Takato blushed and then noticed the speaker.  "Culumon!"

"Hi Ruki!" Culumon shouted ecstatically.  "Did you come here to get out the rain too?"

Ruki groaned.  "Yes, and where did you get the idea to say that?"

"Terriermon, Hirokazu, and Kenta," Culumon said.  "They told me that if I heard your names together like that, then I was supposed to say 'sitting in a tree,' and they would give me cream puffs!  Did I get it right?"

Ruki made a fist.  "Remind me to kill those three next time I see them."

Takato sweatdropped at Ruki's anger.  "Uh, tell you what Culumon, if you'll forget about the whole thing, and don't tell those three you did anything, you can have this," and he held up a large container filled with cream puffs.

Culumon squealed and dived into the box, and started nibbling to his heart's content.

Ruki sighed in relief.  "Takato, you're a lifesaver at times."

Takato beamed at the praise from Ruki.  "No problem."

"Though I wouldn't have thought you the type to bribe innocent little Digimon like that," Renamon added, from where she was drying herself off with a towel Takato's mom had given her.

"Ah, anything for Ruki," Takato said.

Ruki stared strangely at him.

"A-a-and any other of my friends, of course," stammered Takato.

"Sometimes I wonder about you gogglehead," she said.

"Hello Takato," called his father as he walked out holding another tray of rolls.  "I see you brought a girl friend here."  
  


"W-what did you say?" Takato and Ruki stammered simultaneously.

"Well, most of the time, only Hirokazu and Kenta come over, and Juri is the only other girl you know," his dad explained as he set the tray down.

Ruki quickly turned around so no one could see her flaming cheeks.  If she didn't know better, she would think there was a conspiracy surrounding her and Takato.

Once she was sure she didn't look a tomato, she turned around and looked at the tray of steaming bread.

"Mr. Matsuda, why are you bringing out more bread?" she asked politely.  "Takato said you were closing up early today."

"We are," answered Mie Matsuda, Takato's mother.  "But you see, we had already started this batch of bread earlier, before we decided on that, so we just had to finish it."

"Besides," said Takehiro, Takato's father, "any extra bread we have left over always goes to Guilmon, so we always have lots of room the next day."

Ruki glanced at Guilmon, and saw that he was already drooling at the sight of bread.

"Here, Ruki," Takato offered as he held out one of the new loaves.  "If I remember right, you always liked this type the best."

Ruki took the warm food gratefully, then realized something.  "How do you know what my favorite type of bread is?"

"Uh, I noticed which type of bread you liked the most when we made a batch here during the 

D-Reaper invasion," Takato said, putting one hand behind his head.

"What did you say?" his mother interrupted.  "When did you use the over without one of us around?"

"Uh, nothing," Takato denied, but his mother's penetrating glare broke down his defenses.  "Well, after we got back from the Digital World, and while we were wandering around, we had to eat, so we made our own batch of bread."

Mie sighed.  "Well, I guess that's okay, if you had your friends with you, but please, don't try to do it alone again."

"Yes, mom," Takato quickly agreed, and then quickly grabbed Ruki's hand.  "Come on, Ruki, there are more towels in the back," he said quickly, hoping to escape his mother's interrogation.

"Uh, sure," Ruki said, looking down at his hand holding hers.  She knew from experience how annoying mothers got.

Takato dragged her into the back of the building, which was also boarded up, but was as warm as the bakery had been, luckily, followed by their Digimon.

Takato momentarily left the room, and entered with several towels.  He handed them to Ruki and Renamon, to help them dry off.

"Thanks gogglehead," she said as she attempted to wring out some of the excess water.  "Is it me, or do you get a sense of déjà vu?"  
  


Takato thought for a moment, and then laughed as he remembered.  "Oh yeah, that one time in the park," he said.  "I never really did thank you for helping me out then."

Ruki waved aside the statement.  "It was nothing, it was just what a friend would do."

"We were friends back then?" Takato asked, shifting into a thinking position.

"I'd have to get back to you on that," Ruki said, playing along, and the both laughed.

"Well, I guess we were friends after you stopped trying to load Guilmon's data," Takato said.

Ruki reached up to her hair and pulled out the band that was holding her hair up in the ninja type ponytail.  She couldn't dry her hair while it was up like that, right?

For a moment, Takato just stared at Ruki, it was so rare to see Ruki with her hair down.  In fact, the only time he had seen her like this was after an evolution to Sakuyamon.

"By the way, what did your mom say when you got back home?" Ruki asked.

Takato hung his head.  "Scolded me for getting wet, and then sentenced me to my room."

"Mothers are like that," Ruki said.  "Wonder if I'll ever be like that."  _Wait a second, what did I say?!_

Takato looked up at that, and blushed.  "Uh, so you're going to get married someday Ruki?"

Ruki also blushed, but luckily, both were so embarrassed, neither noticed.  "Well, just about everybody does," she said evasively.

"Have any ideas yet?" Takato asked.  _Now would be a really good time to shut up._

"Not really," Ruki said.  _Get a hold of yourself, you're the Digimon Queen, he's a novice, a cute novice, but- stop!_

"How about Ryo?" Takato asked, trying to sound neutral.  _Okay, I'm dead, either she's going to kill me, or she's going to say yes.  Both would be bad._

Takato waited for an answer, but was startled when he heard Ruki snickering.  He turned around, and looked at her, and so she was trying to control her laughter, but then burst out laughing.

"Ryo?!?" she shouted in between giggles.  "What the hell gave you the idea I liked Ryo?!"

"Uh, no idea," Takato said, joining in the laughter.  Suddenly he remembered something.  "Oh, I'll be right back, Ruki," he said, running back up to his room.

Ruki managed to get herself back under control while Takato was gone, as Renamon walked back into the room, eating a bread loaf.

"What was the laughter about?" she said, curiously.

"Well, Takato thought me and Ryo, well, liked each other," she said, snorting.  "I'd rather date Twiddle Dee and Dum then that stuck-up fool."

"Well, that's an insult," Renamon said.  "Well, since you detest all three of them, about Takato?"

"He's okay," Ruki admitted, and then glared suspiciously at Renamon.  "What are you hinting at Renamon?"

"Nothing," Renamon said, adopting a innocent expression.

"And why are you holding a Guilmon bread behind your back?" Ruki asked.  "I thought you didn't like Guilmon bread?"

"Well," Renamon said, maintaining her dignity, "you try saying no to Guilmon when he starts trying to shove bread down your throat."

"Good point," Ruki conceded.  She looked up the stairs as she heard several crashes.  "Maybe I better make sure Takato didn't fall out the window or something."

She marched up the steps and stepped into Takato's well-lit, and well-clutttered, room.

She looked around, and saw various Digimon memorabilia, an Agumon figurine, and several decks on the dresser.  She glanced at them, and saw they were filled with decent cards, and one or two rare ones.

"Found it!" Takato shouted as he finished rummaging through his drawer and then noticed Ruki in his room.  "Ahh!"

Ruki jumped at his shout, and just said "I was wondering what all the noise was about," as an explanation.

"Well, sorry it took so long," Takato apologized, as he held something behind his back.  "Well, I forgot to give this to you at your party, since you left a bit early, and I didn't want to just leave it in the pile of presents, since I, well, wanted to give it to you personally and…"

Ruki listened to him with one ear as she thought of her last birthday party.  Sight-seeing with her grandma, invaded by Parisimon, possessed by one, rescued by Guilmon and Takato, and having memories of her father forced on her again.  Understandably, she hadn't been too happy at the party, so everyone respected her wishes and left early, leaving their presents.  A Digimon computer game from Jenrya, a dress from Juri (stashed in her closet somewhere), various foods from Hirokazu and Kenta, a set of doll clothes from Shuichon (reserved for later torture of Terriermon), a Queen Device card from Ryo (thrown away since he had already given it to Shuichon once), and surprisingly nothing from Takato, much to her hidden disappointment.

At least now she knew why.

Takato held up a box, and she tentatively took it, and then opened it.

Inside was a crown, homemade, but still, it looked beautiful.  It had several fake gems in it, and various forms of Renamon scattered on it too, all drawn artfully.

Takato smiled at her stunned expression.  "Sorry, I couldn't think of anything else to give you, aside from a crown for the Digimon Queen!"

Ruki was too stunned, but to just pick up the crown, and noticed several cards were stuck in the slits.

She picked them up, and saw that they were cards, Renamon, Kyuubimon, Terriermon, Galgomon, Leomon, Guardromon, MarineAngemon, Taomon, Rapidmon, SaintGalgomon, Sakuyamon and even two-

She held up the two cards that were tucked in at the front.  "A Dukemon card?"

Takato shrugged.  "It took me awhile to draw one in, but I was super careful!" he said proudly.

Ruki shook her head at his enthusiasm, and saw another Dukemon card, but this one was different, with less white, and more red.

"So, what do you call your mode change?" Ruki asked as she glanceed at the card carefully.  It almost looked like a real card, especially since Ruki knew that Takato was better at drawing fake cards than Hirokazu.  Far better.

"Dukemon Crimson Mode?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she saw the name and attacks.

Takato shrugged.  "I like crimson.  Besides, fighter and paladin were already taken."

"Well its your Digimon," she said.

"Uh, Ruki," Takato fidgeted for a moment before he blurted out "could I put the crown on you?"

Ruki was startled by his boldness, but nodded once, glad her hair was already down, since the crown would never have fit over the spiked ponytail.

She handed the crown back to him, and he carefully put in on her head.

Takato smiled at the image.  "Now you really do look like the Digimon Queen!"

Ruki blushed (she sure does a lot of that now), and nodded.  "Thank you Takato."

"No problem," Takato said.  "And don't worry about the cards, I've still got plenty, but I thought it should have all of our friends' Digimon too!  To show that you're not the ice queen anymore."

"True," Ruki said, struggling not to show how touched she was by the gift.

Suddenly she noticed that the gems were reflecting sunlight.  _Sunlight?!_

Both Tamers looked out the window and saw a rainbow in the sky.

"Well, I better get home before the weather acts up again," Ruki said regretfully.

"I'll walk you out," Takato offered, and took the crown off of Ruki's head and put it back in the box.

They descended down the steps, and blinked when they saw Guilmon trying to stuff as much bread as possible into Renamon's arms, and unfortunately for her, her mouth was stuffed with a Guilmon bread so she couldn't say anything.

"Renamon, time to go," she said and Renamon quickly nodded, and disappeared, leaving a disappointed Guilmon.

"What are you doing, boy?" Takato asked curiously.  "Why were you trying to give Renamon all that bread?"

"Well, your mom said that we should guests lots of stuff," Guilmon said, "so I was trying to give Renamon bread!"

Takato shook his head.  "You don't have to do that all the time Guilmon?"

"Then why is Ruki holding a box?" Guilmon asked, cocking his head to one side.

"I'll explain later, boy," Takato said, blushing a little.

They walked out together, and Ruki stepped out, and handed Takato the towels she had been using.

"Thanks for the stuff, gogglehead," she said gratefully.

"It was no problem," Takato said bashfully.  "You should come over more often, we've always got more bread."

"I think I've had enough bread for awhile," Renamon said, having mysteriously dumped most of the bread she had been holding somewhere, and she was also holding something else, which she handed to Ruki.

"Oh yeah, you gave this to me awhile ago," Ruki said, handing Takato the paper.  "Since it was the original, I kept meaning to give it back to you, but with the Devas, and the D-Reaper, well…"

Takato held the paper for a moment, and put it back into his pocket.  "Thank Ruki, I was wondering what I had done with it."

"Well, I'll see ya later, gogglehead," she said, and then, on impulse, leaned forward, gave Takato a quick kiss on the lips, and then ran off into the sunset.

***

After Ruki was sure that she had at least several blocks between her and Takato, she stopped panting.

"Well, that was smart," she said to herself.

"Very smart," Renamon agreed, appearing beside her, chewing on a bit of bread.

She looked at Renamon holding the bread.  "I'd thought you had thrown it away."

She just shrugged.  "I stashed it away for a rainy day," she said.

Ruki smiled.  "We just had one.  Maybe the next one you can get more."

Renamon merely smirked at her.  "And from where, would you suggest I get more?"

"Maybe a bakery," Ruki said simply.

"And what will you get next time?" Renamon asked, pointing at the box holding her "crown".

Ruki smiled.  "Who knows?"

***

Takato blinked.  Then he stood there for nearly five minutes, not making any noise.  Guilmon poked him in the side.

"Takato, are you okay?"

Takato finally smiled.  "Well, what do you know, maybe I have a chance after all."

He stepped back into the bakery, and held his lips for a moment, remembering the touch of Ruki's lips.

"Someday," he murmured to himself.

Once he was in his room, and had stored his Guilmon drawing with the rest of them, he smiled to himself.

"Maybe I do like rainy days."

The End.

Well, that's one story done with, three more to go.  I again apologize for taking a bit longer, but I'd gotten writer's block on a good birthday present.

Please, read and review!


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